The invention pertains to optical switches. More particularly, the invention pertains to such switches having reduced numbers of switchable transmission path defining elements.
Known forms of switched optical communication systems incorporate fiberoptics as a medium for communicating messages carried by modulated beams of radiant energy. Such messages at times need to be switched between optical fibers. One known form of optical switch is a crossbar switch.
Known optomechanical crossbar switches use moving mirrors to create connections between inputs and outputs. Various mechanisms can be used to switch or move the mirrors or otherwise to cause them to be actuated and to be in a state to create a connection.
The rectangles inside module 10 represent mirrors. The gray rectangle 16 is a fixed mirror. The dashed rectangles 20a-20k are non-actuated mirrors. Nonactuated mirrors permit beams to pass without substantial deflection. The black rectangles 22a-22d are actuated mirrors. Actuated mirrors substantially deflect incident beams.
In the example of
Lenses, such as lens 18a, at the inputs and outputs of switch module 10 keep the light beams collimated while traversing the free space inside the optical switch. Fibers provide inputs to and transmit outputs from the switch 10 and they are precisely aligned to the collimating lenses. The number of switchable mirrors required in this architecture is N2−1.
A reduced component non-blocking optical switch, or switch module, which supports all traffic that qualifies as reciprocal traffic, includes a plurality of optical ports. Each port has an optical input and optical output associated therewith. The ports couple incident communication beams, such as incident light beams, into a switching region within the switch. Transmission paths established within the switch support reciprocal traffic. Transmission paths can include free space, optical fibers or waveguides.
In one embodiment, a plurality of fixed mirrors or deflectors is positioned substantially diagonally within the switch at optical cross points. The fixed deflectors are located at cross points in the switch where the transmission paths exhibit 90° angles and are oriented at 45° relative to the transmission paths. Other cross points within the switch are occupied by switchable deflectors or mirrors which can be switched to complete respective paths. By combining both fixed and switchable deflector elements, transmission paths can be established between selected pairs of ports thereby supporting the reciprocal traffic.
In another aspect, the ports can be staggered relative to the deflectors so that the path lengths between pairs of ports are substantially constant. In yet another embodiment, some or all of the fixed deflectors can be replaced with combinations of a switchable deflector and a fixed path reversing deflector, such as a V-shaped mirror, to provide loop-back functionality for selected of the ports.
In yet another aspect, deflectors can be implemented as fixed or movable mirrors, or alternately instead of movable mirrors, fixed mirrors with movable mechanical optical deflectors. Solid state deflectors can be used as an alternate.
In one aspect, deflectors can be implemented as optical bubbles using internal reflections or holographic gratings.
Switch modules in accordance herewith can be combined in various configurations to implement multi-stage switches. In one embodiment, non-blocking multi-stage switches can be implemented using, in part, multiple switch modules in accordance herewith to facilitate reciprocal traffic.
Numerous other advantages and features of the present invention will become readily apparent from the following detailed description of the invention and the embodiments thereof, from the claims and from the accompanying drawings.
While this invention is susceptible of embodiment in many different forms, there are shown in the drawing and will be described herein in detail specific embodiments thereof with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification of the principles of the invention and is not intended to limit the invention to the specific embodiments illustrated.
In telecommunication applications, a condition called traffic reciprocity often exists. Traffic reciprocity is defined as the condition where input B is connected to output A whenever input A is connected to output B.
The exemplary connections illustrated in
Because the module 10 supports all traffic connections (both reciprocal and non-reciprocal), it provides greater flexibility than is required in applications where traffic reciprocity exists. The price of this flexibility is the requirement to have N2−1 switchable deflectors or mirrors for an N×N switch.
By exploiting the presence of traffic reciprocity, an exemplary 4×4 (N=4) switch module 10a as in
It will be understood that module 10a could be operated under the control of control circuits 10a-1. These control circuits could be part of a larger communications system without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. It will also be understood that multiple reciprocal-traffic switches, such as module 10a, can be included in larger single or multiple stage switches.
When reciprocity exists, the inputs and outputs can be co-located and paired as illustrated in FIG. 2. It will also be understood that each input/output port, such as 28-i, can be coupled to an input optical fiber and an output optical fibre. Alternately, a single coupled fiber could be used to carry bidirectional traffic.
For an N×N switch, the gray rectangles 30a, b, c . . . N denote fixed deflectors or mirrors. They always deflect an incident beam. Black rectangles 32a, b denote actuated deflectors or mirrors and dashed rectangles 34a, b, c denote non-actuated deflectors or mirrors. Deflectors 32a, b and 34a, b, c are all switchable between states.
Assume a pair of reciprocal connections is to be made between input number A and number B where A<B. Then the two deflectors used for this pair of paths are the fixed deflector or mirror in row A and the actuated deflector or mirror in row B in column A.
Although
An improvement can be made to the switch 10a using staggered input and output ports 38-1, -2, -3 . . . -N as illustrated by switch 10b, FIG. 3. In
Switch 10b,
As illustrated in
In another embodiment, switch 10c,
Adding a fixed deflector, such as a V-shaped mirror at the end of each row, such as deflectors 50a, b, c, d, provides a loop-back function. Deflectors 52a, b, c . . . i are switchable. In this embodiment, the constant path length property of module 10b is almost preserved with the exception that loop-back paths are slightly longer.
As illustrated in
The number of switchable deflectors or mirrors for an N×N switch as in
There are a variety of possible physical implementations. The deflectors or mirrors can move in and out of position by using either a sliding or tilting mechanism. They could be non-moving multi-state solid state deflectors. The input and output fibers should be rested on V-grooves for better alignment with the collimating lenses. The lenses, deflectors or mirrors, and v-grooves may all be part of a MEMS (micro-electromechanical systems) platform. It will be understood that the details of implementation of the various deflectors or mirrors are not limitations of the present invention.
Switch configurations, such as 10a, 10b and 10c can be used as building blocks to create larger multi-stage switches for reciprocal traffic.
As illustrated in
The modules 62 are connected to the modules 64 so the externally disposed I/O ports 66 handle reciprocal traffic in a non-blocking fashion. To this end, the modules are interconnected by optical fibers as illustrated in the exemplary switch 60 of FIG. 5. It will be understood that a variety of switch architectures using modules 10a, 10b, 10c, could be implemented in multi-stage switches to support reciprocal switch traffic without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
From the foregoing, it will be observed that numerous variations and modifications may be effected without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. It is to be understood that no limitation with respect to the specific apparatus illustrated herein is intended or should be inferred. It is, of course, intended to cover by the appended claims all such modifications as fall within the scope of the claims.
This application is a continuation of utility application Ser. No. 10/037,054 filed Jan. 3, 2002 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,650,804, which is a continuation of utility application Ser. No. 09/799,954 filed Mar. 6, 2001 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,363,182, which claimed the benefit of a Jul. 31, 2000 filing date of Provisional application No. 60/221,796.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 10037054 | Jan 2002 | US |
Child | 10680443 | US | |
Parent | 09799954 | Mar 2001 | US |
Child | 10037054 | US |